New Play Control! Pikmin Nintendo Wii

Straight from the creative mind of Nintendo's own Shigeru Miyamoto, Pikmin is an inventive action-strategy game featuring incredibly life-like environments inspired by Mr. Miyamoto's own garden in Kyoto, Japan.

Players control a spaceman named Captain Olimar who has crash-landed on an unusual planet. The goal of the game is to help Olimar collect his vessel's lost parts, which have been scattered all over the planet.

Luckily for Captain Olimar, the planet is inhabited by strange little creatures, called Pikmin. Pikmin are plant-like life forms that come in three different colors red, yellow and blue. Each type of Pikmin has unique strengths, which Olimar must use to his advantage. Red Pikmin can withstand fire, blue Pikmin can survive in water, while yellow Pikmin can destroy obstacles by using bomb-rocks. Players can control the Pikmin sprouts individually, in groups, or in one large Pikmin posse of 100 creatures.

Pikmin begin their lives as leaves, but they mature into buds and flowers if you leave them in the ground after sprouting. Accomplishing goals in Pikmin isn't all about hauling items from point A to point B. Pikmin sprouts can also be directed to perform other tasks like building bridges, destroying walls, carrying bombs and - of course - fighting.

Directing Pikmin to battle other creatures is one of the most entertaining aspects of the game. The natural enemies are generally many times larger than the Pikmin, so they have to attack in large numbers to be successful.

Pikmin is a very unique type of game, which you have to play for yourself to appreciate. Its fresh approach and imaginative presentation makes it a most refreshing game to play.